We went for a short hike from our camp site to some near by rocks, where there was a natural window that everybody got their pictures taken in. I'm sitting in an awkward position with a beer in my hand and Woody is smiling in the background.
I needed a new non-backpacking tent. My old three-person tent that I bought in 1995 had one too many holes and broken poles. I bought this tent at Costco that is 8X8 feet. It is larger than my last tent, and gives me room for my queen sized air mattress plus room on the side for bags and stuff. The only thing I don't like about it is that the entire top is open mesh. The second night I put up the rain fly, which not only covers the open areas, it adds a nice vestibule in front which provides a shaded place to put a cooler during the day.
While hike back from the mine, some hikers walking the other way warned us of a rattlesnake coiled up on the left side of the trail. We would have walked right by without seeing the snake because he was so well camouflaged in the grass. I used my zoom to take this photo because I do not like snakes and I kept my distance. However, he never shook his rattle as a warning to the seven city-dwelling people staring at him. Of all the hiking I've done recently, this is the first time I've seen a rattlesnake.
I've taken better sunset photos than this. I'm still getting used to the settings on my camera. At sunset, the landscape was gloing yellow and was quite pretty. The temperatures dropped quickly after the sun set. Also, the wind picked up in the evening but calmed down after dark.
The local flora was very diverse in Joshua Tree. At our campground, the vegetation was very sparse and more desert-like. At the higher elevations there were many more blooming flowers and thicker, taller and green plants.
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